Long-time ABC radio presenter Jon Faine is stepping down

Long-time ABC radio presenter Jon Faine says this year will be his last presenting the Melbourne morning show.

Long-time ABC radio presenter Jon Faine says this year will be his last presenting the broadcaster’s Melbourne morning show.

After more than two decades, Faine on Monday told ABC 774 listeners “it’s time for someone else to have as much fun as I have had”.

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Long-time ABC Melbourne radio presenter Jon Faine has announced this year will be his last presenting the morning show.

“Thirty years ago this week, I joined the ABC to make the law report in what I thought would be a brief detour from lawyering,” he announced at the start of his program.

“And now I find myself presenting the morning show on ABC Radio Melbourne now for the 23rd year. But it will be my last this year.

“I’ve told the ABC that when my present contract expires, I do not seek another.”

The announcement comes after heavy speculation about the long-time broadcaster’s retirement.

Faine is no stranger to controversy. Last year he lashed sacked ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie’s term as an “astonishing fail”.

He came under fire for comparing a disability campaigner’s skin with that of a “burns victim”.

His program also had a complaint upheld over “offensive comments” made about the ethnic background of NBN workers.

Flashback: Jon Faine sits in an office in 2002.

In a statement on Monday, Judith Whelan, acting director of ABC regional and local said Faine had previously indicated 2019 would be his last year with the broadcaster.

“We really appreciate Jon giving us plenty of warning regarding his decision to leave at the end of this year,” Ms Whelan said.

“It is a decision that is hard to live with. Jon is a unique broadcaster and one who will be extremely hard to replace.”

Jon Faine back in 2002.

ABC Radio Melbourne manager, Dina Rosendorff, said Faine was “more than just a broadcaster” to his colleagues and listeners.

“He has been a mentor and leader to many of his colleagues over his 23 years behind the mic as well as a trusted and reliable source of information and analysis on issues that affect all Victorians,” Ms Rosendorff said.

She added Faine “still has a year of reporting on our community and talking to the people who shape it”.

The ABC says it will announce the broadcaster’s replacement towards the end of the year.